Heir to the Heathen Throne
by otahotian
Summary: Ritual; an established or prescribed procedure for a religious or other rite. Ritual; a horror movie from 2013. Ritual; activity or several repeated daily. And, coincidentally, the name of the fifth chapter of this Sabriel fanfiction- coffee-shop cliché for everyone who is not tired of those, yet.
1. Nirvána

**_Hi. Another day, another challenge; I am making a promise of one chapter per week, hopefully more often. Chapters are short, uneventful, more of a characters study than a novel. _**

**_It's a Sabriel story, my guilty pleasure, and also the first slash fiction that is solely mine and not a mere interpretation of what my ex-profile-sister had on her mind. _**

**_If you have any comment, question, criticism concerning either the store, spelling, grammar or even my adopted writing style, don't hesitate to let me know. You can use reviews, private messages, psi-contacting (telepathy) or pigeon post to do so._**

**Name: _Heir to the Heathen Throne_**

**Chapter: _Nirvána__  
_**

**Place/setting: _Random university town_**

**Characters: _Gabriel, Castiel, Balthazar_**

**Mood: _Easy, Enigmatic, Energetic_**

**Warnings: _Strong language (for me, at least)__  
_**

**Author listening to: _Nothing, but I'm going to go for _Lemuria_ by _Therion**

_**Enjoy, if possible.**_

* * *

_Nirvána__; imperturbable stillness of mind after the fires of desire, aversion, and delusion have been finally extinguished._

_Nirvana; __name of three respective bands, American, Brittish and Swedish._

* * *

Gabriel liked to think it was a good name for a sweetshop; it suggested calmness, bliss and had that slight taste of foreign that he knew students just loved. Good, as well, since students made about seventy percent of his customers.

The radio wasn't playing Nirvana the moment he unlocked the door to the place. The radio was playing some weird ass mantra, and as soothing as those could be, if he was ever forced to repeat _Oh mani padme hum_ for three hundred times, he might just get loony. But the mantra helped him realize one thing in exactly two seconds it took him to raise his eyes from where he had had them lowered while unlocking the door; Castiel was over.

"Oh by _gods_, will you stop breaking in?" he called into the shop, looking over the number of tables, chairs upside down on them, trying to see where his weird ass cousin was at the moment. He heard the sound of a long exhale and then Castiel's head appeared from behind the counter, the teen straightening up and stretching all of his muscles along the way.

"I didn't break in, the backdoor is unlocked." Castiel said evenly, running his hand trough his hair, darkened even more than usual by sweat. It made Gabriel snort and cross the room, with one relieved click turning the music off.

"Yeah. _Now_ it is. Who taught you how to pick locks? I'm gonna send that fucker to Valhalla prematurely." He wasn't really bothered by Castiel's presence, the teen using Gabriel's shop as some kind of safe haven, more so after his brother started working there as a waiter. On the good days, Gabriel thought he might just have to strangle the two of them, their presence was overwhelming and exactly what he always expected from family, yet never got from his own set of brothers. On the bad days, he was half-tempted to accept Castiel's offer of massage and getting high.

"Your mother, Gabriel." Castiel followed him with his gaze, he was sure of it; could feel the eyes on the back of his neck even as he put the chairs one-by-one from the tables to the floor.

"I didn't know you were into necromancy, too." was Gabriel's smart reply and he would love to get it printed and hung above his bed. "You could help me, you know? Since you already spend more time in here than you do at home."

He raised his eyes to see Castiel give him a contemplative look and then shake his head, "No, I do not think so." the male said with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Gabriel huffed and went on silently until he had the shop prepared for opening; it was half past six and he still had ten more minutes before he would leave to the kitchen to warm up the sweets for breakfast and start on a new batch. However, he needed Balthazar over by that time, since he had honest to gods no idea how to prepare coffee with the silly coffee makers.

"Where's that asshat of your brother anyway?" he huffed towards Castiel, moving to lean against the counter now that the dark-haired teen was busy moving around the shop and lighting up aroma candles.

"What's the time?" Castiel asked and Gabriel peered up at the clock above the counter- a gift from Lucifer, who thought Winnie the Pooh was a decent idea of decoration, that dick. "Twenty-five to seven." He breathed in the air and caught a hint of scent from the candles, heavy and enticing. It was strangely familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"Santal wood." he heard Castiel say and raised his eyebrows, but the male obviously wasn't done yet, "It's aphrodisiakum. Cleans the air. Calms people down. And Balthazar is probably still asleep."

Gabriel snickered, "Aphrodisiakum? Seriously? You know this is a coffee shop, rig- wait, what do you mean 'still asleep'?" he pushed away from the counter, started pacing the room. "I'm gonna castrate the fuc-"

He was interrupted by the front door opening and in danced said male, whistling off-tune and ridiculously cheerful, "Who offended your cakes this time?"

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, "Good morning to you too." he greeted him, eyebrows raised and arms crossed over his chest, stupidly annoyed. But he had been afraid Balthazar would come in late and the coffee wouldn't be ready for the first customers and then-

"You're being the mean boss today?" Balthazar folded his jacket over one of the chairs, by a corner table that they usually reserved for family and friends over, unless there was too many people in.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much." Castiel piped in, blowing off the long match he had used to light up his candles, "He is simply worried his coffee-drinking sweetheart would leave if there was no coffee to be drunk."

Gabriel straightened up so fast his neck stung, "_Oi_!" he glared at them both, hoping it would be enough to get the siblings to shut up and stop poking fun of him.

It didn't work quite the way he had hoped for; but they did shut their mouths and Balthazar moved around the counter to start on the coffee, while Castiel simply raised his hands, palms-up, in a gesture of surrender.

The peace and silence didn't last long and Gabriel knew he should have expected that. All the while, the moment he saw Castiel open his mouth and take in a deep breath, he suddenly wished he had a piece of pie in his hand to stuff his mouth shut. "I don't think he would stop coming in, even if you didn't serve the coffee." And if Gabriel expected his cousin to start with the usual cliché of 'he comes in to see you', he was sadly mistaken; "It's the only place 'round the campus that doesn't sell drugs and whores."

"Maybe I should start selling drugs and whores." Gabriel repeated sulkily, reaching to take the mug of steaming coffee that Balthazar prepared for him. "Maybe then he wouldn't sit in a sweet shop, drinking black coffee."

Gabriel just caught the sound of the two siblings laughing in unison, weirdly in harmony, but that might just be the _Sandal wood_ or whatever playing hockey with his mind. He turned around and fled into his safe kitchen, but not fast enough to miss Balthazar's last retort;

"Maybe we should hire Ruby, then. From what I heard she's the biggest whore since Mary Magdalene."

Gabriel felt the tip of his ears heat up and he kicked the door to the kitchen shut, turning his laptop on to play his own music; gossiping just never felt right to him.

* * *

"_You sure 'bout that? I mean.. you've got school 'n stuff, don't wanna get in the way, dude."_

"-for the fifth time, Dean, it's cool, alright? It's nice to get you to myself for few days. With_out_ dad."

"_Yeah, yeah, I know. Dad's got some stuff to do in Oregon, or somethin', so it's gonna be just us."_

"Great. I'll see if I can get you a room yeah?"

"_Motel's always an option, chill."_

"- fine. When are you going to get here?"

"_Friday. Evening, probably. I'll call you when I know more, yeah?"_


	2. Animé

**_Well, here comes the second part. Hope you liked the starting and will like the continued parts as well._**

**Name: _Heir to the Heathen Throne_**

**Chapter: _Animé__  
_**

**Place/setting: _Coffee shop_**

**Characters: _Gabriel, Castiel, Balthazar, Sam, Various unknown persons_**

**Mood: ****_Curious, _****_Hesitant, Content_**

**Warnings: _Pining, Pop-culture references__  
_**

**Author listening to: _Author's other guilty pleasure- anything and everything by glorious _Eluveitie**

**_Enjoy the chapter :)_**

* * *

_Anime; Japanese animated productions, usually featuring hand-drawn or computer animation._

_Anim__é; __orange, resinous, sticky gum produced by Jatob__á, tree common to the Caribbean, Central and South America._

_Animé; __india-rock band, created in 1999._

* * *

Gabriel had an episode of _Death Note_ playing on his laptop as he went trough the routine of heating up pies, cakes, pastries and other sweets when requested by the customers. He had the dough prepared for making a fresh ones, too, but was too caught up in arranging the cherry on top of an ice-cream sundea. It had to be perfect, he wanted to go present it personally to the guest who had ordered it, screw that he had no idea who it was.

He narrowed his eyes and shifted the fruit slightly to the left, adding a half-teaspoon of melted chocolate over it. There, that was good. He paused the current episode and arranged the bowl onto a plate with glass of slightly warm water, taking a deep breath.

He stepped out of the safety of his kitchen, hoping he didn't have flour or dough or marmalade anywhere over himself. Balthazar was nice enough to point the elderly couple to him and he strode confident towards them, but not before searching for a familiar face in the shop. He found the face, of course. Together with the body that belonged to it, long enough to rival his Sunday dinners with family.

He would have stumbled over his own feet had the male, to whom both said face and said body belonged, looked up at the moment, but he didn't. Of course. He was just like every other day leaned over a thick book that was resting on the edge of the table, backpack next to him on the floor, safely tucked close to touch the man's ankle all the time, and in front of him a mug of black, bitter coffee.

Gabriel set the sundae in front of the couple and leaned down to light up their candle, giving them both a smile for their thanks. He found himself envious of the harmony between them; as rare as he knew that was, the idea of growing old with someone without the fear of showing who he was made him melt and sigh like a middle-aged woman over Orlando Bloom.

"He looks like male version of Rory Gilmore." Balthazar noted as soon as Gabriel joined him by the counter, earning himself a death glare when the sentence left his mouth. He didn't seem to mind that much, no matter how hard Gabriel tried to kill him with his look; continuing on with creating some silly pictures with cream into the surface of the coffee.

"Didn't know you watched the Gilmore Girls." Gabriel said bitingly when he couldn't think of anything smart to say. He watched as the shop door opened and in went a group of young people; his guess was on students, which meant they would want the menu to help them decide that they wanted normal coffee and pancakes anyway.

"Name one person who never watched the Gilmore Girls." he heard Balthazar say with a grin, that asshat, and Gabriel picked up three of the leather-bound menus, bringing them to the round table in the middle of the room where said students decided to sit.

"_Michael_!" Gabriel called over his shoulder towards Balthazar, chuckling softly when one of the students looked up at him with a questioning look on his face. "Sorry, kiddo." he said towards the student, laying one of the menus straight in front of him; blond, laughing blue eyes and small dimples in his cheeks. "So your name is Michael? I am Gabriel, I will get you one coffee on the shop, since we archangels need to stick together." he said with a wink and walked off, followed by a burst of conspiratorial laughter from the group.

When he returned to the counter, Balthazar had three coffees ready, so Gabriel made one more trip around the tables to get them to their rightful owners. "I don't get why stuff like that works on _everyone_, but Rory over there.." he complained, leaning against the counter next to his kind-of-cousin, dipping his finger into the cream and licking it off.

"Maybe you need to serenade him." Balthazar batted his finger away, as if that would ever stop Gabriel from stealing sweets.

"You know very well that I can't sing." Gabriel rolled his eyes, "I like to, of course. 'Cause who doesn't, right? But the quality's deplorable." He hopped up to sit on the counter and watched his favourite customer trough the mirror behind the counter; the counter looked like a bar, he got told. But as he didn't serve alcohol, only sometimes in some of the sweets, it didn't worry him that much.

The male version of Rory Gilmore straightened up right on time, pushing his empty coffee mug away from him exactly at half past nine; it was a simple gesture, but Gabriel knew him well enough already and was by his table in a beat, grinning expectantly as he waited for the student to speak up.

"Oh, hey. Yeah.." was the first thing the male said from the moment he had walked into the sweetshop, Gabriel knew it, so that explained his low and throaty voice. None the less, Gabriel found himself speechless and staring at his mouth for long seconds, only the few low syllables enough to send a tremor trough his spine.

Oh wait, no, he had said 'coffee, black' in a curt, matter-of-fact voice when he had walked in. Balthazar always complained about the lack of 'good morning' or 'please' or 'thank you', but Gabriel knew him well enough to know that he would complain about anything.

A clearing of throat had him back in the present and he muttered an embarrassed apology for having spaced out. Minding that the customer obviously preferred gestures and silence to words, he just handed the bill over without a sound.

And holly shit, the male was sitting almost as tall as Gabriel was standing now that he was straightened, handing the money to him. He was already used to the exchange, knowing that 'Rory' was not about to want the change back, but all the while he reached for his wallet to give it to him. A raised palm stopped him and he gave the man a smile, small 'thank you' slipping past his lips.

After that he could only watch as his customer gathered his things and walked out, long strides graceful and fast. He didn't look back and Gabriel could only mourn the loss of his presence.

* * *

"-or the last time, Dean! _Don't_ call me when I'm having a seminar!"

"_Hey, baby bro. Hardly my fault you didn't turn sounds off."_

"You're not blaming this on me. What on Earth did you want?"

"_Just ask you how you're doin'. -Nah. Kidding, sorry, Sammy."_

"Ha. Funny as always, Dean. And don't call me that."

"_Okay, okay, chill. Jeez. Dad called, I might be stayin' bit longer than expected. You don't mind, right?"_

"Of course not. I'll be happy to have you here.."

"_Cool. Awesome. Get your ass to the motel, then. We're going out to get pie."_


	3. Tyr

_Tyr; Norse god of war, son of Odin._

_Tyr; an album created by Black Sabath in the year 1990, second on created after the drummer Cozy Powell joined._

_Tyr; name of a small town in Russia._

_Tyr; metal music band, known for their songs describing events from the history of not only Skandinavia._

It was cold as hell, Gabriel noted the first thing when he locked the coffee shop up at half past eleven in the evening. He craved his bed and vowed not to leave it for the next few years.

Balthazar had long ago gone home, his shift having ended when Anna's started. It was only the poor little him, Gabriel sighed, that had to come at the dawn of new day and leave in the dark of night. Yet.. yet.

He locked the door and double-checked that it held and that the lights were out and there was no stray customer demanding to be let out.

He couldn't hate the long hours. For one, the shop was his pride and joy, his baby and just that, _his_. He loved it there, he had poured his soul into each and every piece of furniture, hunted down in antique shops as well as the modern ones.

He loved how his customers had their habits, how the types changed with the day. At morning, there were students and business men and all the people that loved looking important.

After that, there were silent lonely persons, sitting subdued on their chairs with a book or laptop, at least until around noon the business men were back.

Around two in the afternoon, the awkward groups of two to five people crowded in, friends that haven't seen each other in ages and probably won't again after leaving the shop.

These left after four, leaving place for cheery groups of mismatched friends and occasional couple in casual clothes; Gabriel usually dimmed the lights by that time.

At six, some of them remained, but were joined by older couples, dressed up and talking in hushed voice, being all grown-up and subtle about trying to judge if getting into bed together would be acceptable after that one date, or not yet. The candles came at that time, aromatic ones if Castiel was still moping around.

But the most fun was after nine, that was the favourite part of Gabriel's day, even if Anna always seemed uneasy and opted to stay safe behind the counter, leaving waitress duties on him. That was when groups like Odin's came by. Those were people that wore black and loved stories and lived in their own, much more romantic, world. People who didn't need to drink alcohol to feel good and loved in their small gang, people that offered smiles but were wary of strangers. Gabriel loved them and out of those Odin's group the most; they sometimes came in with swords after practice or after a 'battle' and they sometimes carried guitar with them and sang.

Gabriel had been gifted a rose that day, from one of the girls from that girl. Her name was _Freya_, or at least she claimed that, and was just like the others. He still held it in his hands as he walked down the street with Anna, walking his cousin back home because it wasn't safe to let her be all alone.

"We are hosting the wedding lunch tomorrow.." the red-head noted and Gabriel quickly diverted his thoughts back towards her, nodding his head.

"I know." he offered, slightly sarcastic, "I've been in the cake for most of today."

"_In_?" Anna asked, chuckling gently, no doubt imagining her cousin actually climbing into the huge pink monstrosity, finishing the decorations from that spot. "Did they want a stripper?"

Gabriel quirked his lips in a grin and gazed upwards, running his eyes over the dark grey clouds. "No idea.. Why, you volunteer? It's really messy, you know that?" he asked conversationally, leading their way across one of the main streets, without bothering to look around.

Anna quickened her pace a bit, the sound of her high-heels echoing on the otherwise deserted street, and hooked her arm trough Gabriel's left, so she could rest some of her weight against him. "Me? Oh please.. I've got better taste then tongs and no-bra. Ask Balthazar, he'd _love_ the idea, I bet." she noted and Gabriel pretended to think about it for few long moments.

They were silent until Anna fished for her keys and they said their goodbyes, Gabriel turning on his heels and going back home as well.

He wondered whether he should just move into the shop completely to save himself the walk.

* * *

"_You back in your room, dude?"_

"Where else would I be, Dean?"

"_No idea when it comes to you. Now, Sammy.. Sammy, Sammy, Sa-"_

"Shut up, be that kind.."

"_Dude, really, what _was_ it?"_

"What was what, Dean?"

"_You. I mean.. the guy was fine, I guess, and he _did_ give me a sample of those pies to choose.."_

"Okay, good. We are never, ever talking about thi-"

"_You fancy him."_

"No I don't."

"_Oh hell yeah you do."_

"No."

"_No? Fine. Prove it."_


	4. Aegis

_Aegis; name of the breastplate of Zeus._

_Aegis; collar or cape worn to display protection provided by religious authority. _

_Aegis; band from Philippines. _

_Aegis; American combat system._

* * *

Gabriel was exhausted. His eyes strayed towards the Winnie-the-Pooh clock again, only to note that it had been all seven minutes since the last time he looked. It was half past nine in the morning and already he was tempted to shut the shop and never open it again.

"Do they _have_ to do that? Like, really?" he asked the half-finished coffee in front of him desperately, before adding cream on top of it. It looked messy at best, but it wasn't his fault Balthazar went and broke his leg, was it.

Anna twirled towards him with a look of pure annoyance on her face and snatched the two coffees he had managed to make, "_Tell_ them something." she snapped, throwing an angry look towards a corner table where two young males were sitting, throwing insults at each other with such vigour he was surprised there even were any guests in the coffee shop at all.

"Why don't _you_?" Gabriel snapped right back, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sick of dealing with them at _home_, I don't need it at work as well."

His cousin, the amazing, amazing young girl just threw her fiery red hair over her shoulders and stomped off to the restroom, slamming the door loudly shut behind her. Gabriel sighed and started the coffee machine anew.

He watched as the dark liquid poured into tall glass and switched on the next Satan's machine, that Balthazar always used to prepare whipped milk, but at him it kept spitting white lumps, resembling snot much more then mousse, instead. And it was still better than trying to stop his brothers from starting a war in his coffee shop.

Gabriel caught his name from one of his siblings and grimaced, wondering whether he should follow Anna into the restroom, or put lethal poison into Lucifer's fries. Yet, he still loved his brothers.

Just as he was about to tie his own noose from gummy snakes, the bell above his door jingled and in pushed two laughing males and oh hell, that was the worst ever possible time for the Rory-Gilmore-in-male-form to come to visit.

"I've got it." Anna danced past him into the open space of the diner and Gabriel tipped his head, silently congratulating her for leaving their save haven behind the bar. She was all smiles and trills as she showed Rory and his company to a table that was as far away from Lucifer and Michael as the shop would allow.

Gabriel abandoned his attempts at a latté and fished a beer from the cooler, quickly pouring one black coffee. He added a piece of carrot pie from the kitchen when he recognized the other guy as Rory's brother; even after seeing him only once, the pair was unforgettable.

Anna was politely giggling at something Rory's brother said when Gabriel entered the war-zone that was his shop and started towards them, smile on his face. He was so dedicated to the task at hand that he failed to notice his brothers stopped arguing for one sweet, sweet moment.

Rory's brother – and now he really needed Balthazar there to help him out, because he can't well keep calling Rory's brother 'Rory's brother' and he always sucked at finding the most accurate nickname – looked up in that moment and watched him with rather contemplative look, before giving out one of the smiles that would sure melt Gabriel's knees, had he not been so desperately smitten already.

"_..prove it.._" he caught a piece of conversation from the table, but that didn't bother him. As he spent the whole day inside of the shop, he could write a book from those fragments that people shot at each other. What bothered him, though, was that he didn't catch the next part, the important part, the significant part that was spoken silently, the words that were drowned in grey noise from the street.

His smile was much more polite and difficult to keep when he finally reached the table, gently laying the tray on it like Michael taught him so long ago; first his little finger and then the tray right next to it, as not to spill or make unnecessary noise. He settled the beer and pie in front of Rory's brother and earned another radiant smile, hearty gratitude and loud compliment; he settled coffee in front of Rory and Rory just kept on looking at Anna, who was still blushing prettily, like only teenage girls could when thrown of guard.

Tray clasped in front of himself, Gabriel smiled and turned on his heel, striding back across the place. Lucifer once again proved to be a mind-reader and reached to pull third chair to his and Michael's table, into which Gabriel gratefully sank.

"Troubles, brother?" Lucifer's face was adorned by the ever-present half-smirk that Gabriel had the urge to punch away since he turned old enough to reach. Michael mirrored the younger twin's posture, chin leaned on his palm and watching their youngest brother as a particularly ugly experiment.

"You know you really look like brothers like this?" Gabriel leaned back in his chair, abandoning the empty tray on the table. He watched with some smugness as both his siblings quickly shifted into a different position.

Michael looked annoyed enough, too, so Gabriel decided not to pour more oil into the fire and actually answer, "Hellish day. No pun intended, bro."

"Hellish day and you didn't even have to deal with Lucifer for longer than twenty seconds." Michael pinched the bridge of his nose, pretending not to notice the ugly look that said brother sent him.

Gabriel just shrugged, reaching to snatch Michael's mostly untouched coffee from in front of the male. Strangely, he didn't even protest.

"Every day is a hellish one when I see you two guys. Wonder why.." the youngest said conversationally, stirring the coffee with a long spoon. He took a sip and realized why didn't Michael fight against getting it stolen; Gabriel pushed it away, vowing to get Balthazar back to work, even if he had to carry him there.

"Perhaps because you realize how empty your days are without us?" Lucifer suggested, eyebrows titled upwards in pleased amusement. Gabriel smiled to keep his brother in a good mood, because his brother in a good mood meant no one was going to get stabbed.

Michael rolled his eyes to show that he was still a grown-up and above ridiculous shows of affection such as teasing. He eyed his wrist watch and cleared his throat, "Well, I'll leave you to it. I have an important meeting."

"Say 'hi' to your right hand." Lucifer returned cheerfully, swinging on the chair he was sitting on and dawning the rest of his own, probably equally horrible, coffee.

Michael scoffed and leaned down to give the polite hug-and-two-cheek-kisses goodbye to both of them, trying not to wince when Lucifer licked his cheek. Then he straightened his suit and was out, not looking back at his two siblings that were both watching him leave.

"Do I wanna know what you did this time?" Gabriel asked after a moment of silence – during which he was sipping Michael's coffee and Lucifer was wiping his mouth with a napkin – eyeing the blond with a look of suspicion.

Lucifer made a stop in the task of rubbing his tongue clean and grinned, "Me?" he raised his eyebrows, a picture of innocence. The shine in his eyes was devilish, though, and Gabriel was reminded of the times they both sneaked out of their house, setting haystacks on fire.

"Don't tell me he had to arrest you again.." Gabriel sighed, running a hand trough his hair.

"Oh brother.." Lucifer set the napkin down and looked at him with a sigh of desperate sadness. "So young and yet you sound so, so old. You should never have gone to university."

Gabriel scowled at him, "Like that have anything to do with anything." They were both silent for few minutes, with Lucifer studying the residue of coffee-grounds in his mug.

"What is it, then, brother mine?" Lucifer asked, voice silent and serious and Gabriel felt like a five-years old again when his brother pierced him with his cold eyes, looking straight into him. "Worried that one of us will kill the other? Don't be silly.." the blond laughed and Gabriel wanted to answer, but he was still under the spell and Lucifer wasn't done talking, either. "That is nothing you should worry about; it will happen one day. You can't do anything about that."

Gabriel swallowed and had to look away, pretending to study the ugly zen-garden painting on the wall. "Why?" he asked just as silently and just closed his eyes when his brother laughed at the question; "Goodbye, brother. Till next time."

With that, the diner was suddenly silent and empty, sans Rory with his brother and a lone person with his ear's covered by earphones. Too silent and too empty and Gabriel stared at the picture, wondering why can't he ever claim his inner peace, if only for a moment.

Why did meditating never work for him, when Castiel was obviously all too good at putting himself under, or luring innocent by-passers into a 'shared meditation'?

Why couldn't he find peace in knowing that world was a crazy place like Balthazar did? Just laugh at everything and everyone and push anything bothersome away?

And why can't his brothers sometimes choose a different place to argue at? What the fuck did they need spectator for anyway?

And why, oh why, why did Rory – the guy that never talked to anyone unless necessary – feel the need to share something blushing-worthy with Anna all of a sudden?

And why the fuck can't he go home?

* * *

"_The redhead was nice."_

"Stop sounding so smug.. It's not like you hooked us up."

"_What's her name?"_

"Good question, Dean."

"_I know__. So?"_

"I've got no idea."

"_Dude. What?"_

"To be clear, I'm not dating some girl I saw five times in my life."

"_You seemed pretty into her last time I looked."_

"You told me to prove it, so I did."

"_To prove what, that you didn't like the guy? In /front/ of said guy? Like, really?"_

"What did you want me to do, ask her to kindly step outside with me?"

"_Choose someone else."_

* * *

_Liked? Hated? Let me know; your opinion will be examined and taken into consideration._

_Nice day,_

_me._


	5. Ritual

**Name: **Heir to the Heathen Throne.

**Chapter: **Ritual.

**Place: **Gabriel's coffee shop.

**Characters: **Gabriel, Samandriel, Anna, Balthazar, Odin &amp; co., Dean, Sam.

**Mood: **Lonely.

**Warnings: **My English, same-sex relations, religion.

**Songs: **I Stand Alone by _Van Canto_ (and other metal).

* * *

_Ritual; an established or prescribed procedure for a religious or other rite._

_Ritual; a horror movie from 2013._

_Ritual; activity or several repeated daily._

* * *

Gabriel had his own way of waking up each morning, be it to the sound of birds chirping, promising a sunny day, or to the sound of rain falling steadily. It included climbing out of his bed, huddled in warm cocoon of blankets, and not leaving it until he had brushed his teeth and found a set of warm, clean clothing to get him trough the day. Then he would walk those two minutes it took him to get to work and prepare the sweetshop for it's day as well, drinking the coffee either of his two waiters would make him.

Of course, there were exceptions, such as his birthday, sleepovers – staying either over at their family house, or, admittedly, at a 'friend's' – or the mornings when he felt like he had gotten hit with a rubber hammer sometime during the night.

That particular Friday fell into the last category and Gabriel switched off his cellphone alarm clock with an annoyed scowl, refusing to move at all. For a moment it even seemed as if he would get away with it, but then his cellphone started ringing again, this time announcing a call from Anna.

Gabriel gazed at the display; he didn't want to talk to anyone and he certainly didn't want to talk to his cousin. He picked up after several long seconds, realizing that he was a good cousin and as such he will never a) flirt with his relative's crush; and b) leave the girl standing in front of the shop in the cold.

"On my way." was what he muttered into the device, interrupting whatever it was that he redhead was saying. He dragged himself from the bed and pulled a large – probably Lucifer's, come think of it – black hoodie over his pajamas. Taking his keys and cellphone he left his flat and strode around the corner, trying to force himself to at least appear cheerful for the sake of Anna.

When he saw not one, but two silhouettes leaning against the run down wall in front of his shop, he picked his pace up and soon he could recognize the other person as Anna's lanky younger brother; Samandriel. The last time he saw the boy was when he reached Gabriel's middle, so he quickly did the math to realize that he was reaching his fifeenth year.

"We got a company today?" Gabriel found it in himself to smile kindly at the boy, searching his face to familiarize himself with him.

"Mum wanted him to come with me today, so he would get out of the house." Anna rolled her eyes and shrugged, reaching to snatch the keys Gabriel had found and quickly unlocking the front door.

"What, you've been hermiting, Sam?" Gabriel grinned, letting the two siblings walk inside first, before following behind. Samandriel, surprisingly, averted his face when a touch of rose appeared on his cheeks and Gabriel's amusement grew – if he was so easy to embarrass, he would have to introduce his cousin to some of his friends. They'd be delighted.

"No." the youngster shook his head when he took in the interior of the shop. "I got back from England three days ago and mum says I got 'bratty' in there."

Gabriel raised his eyebrow at that and watched as Samandriel, without prompting, started taking the chairs one by one off the tables. "Well, Naomi can kiss my ass." he reacted and joined the work, feeling guilty for letting the boy start while he just watched. "You just take a look around, Anna will tell you what to do. If you want you can come join me in the kitchen 'round noon and then we'll see, yeah?"

Samandriel eagerly nodded and Gabriel left him to tidying the chairs. He snatched the coffee Anna was handing him and disappeared into his save cave, closing the door behind himself.

True to the instructions, he hadn't heard about Samandriel until eleven-thirty, aside of occasionally handing pastries or other sweets to the youngster.

"How're you doing?" Gabriel asked with a flour covered grin, motioning for Samandriel to close the door, as not to allow the room to cool down and ruin the rising dough.

Samandriel stepped inside and handed him the spoon he had been looking for, leaning against the counter that Gabriel kept almost sterile clean. "It's.. busy." he said carefully, watching as Gabriel finished arranging dough onto a roaster, pushing it into heated oven. "I don't understand how Anna can walk around so much. On highheels."

Gabriel chuckled, washing his hands and turning around so that he could fish cream out of the cooler. "She's insane." he said seriously and pulled a bowl of bean ice-cream out of the freezer. He scooped a spoonful of it and handed it to Samandriel, "Taste this. It's supposed to be normal in China."

"Are you trying out Chinese recipes, then?" Samandriel questioned, smile tugging at his lips and thankfully sounding much less shy than he had been just few minutes ago. "Should I worry about the stray cats?"

"If I say 'yes', will you take them all home with you?" Gabriel asked with a wide grin, taking a moment to imagine Anna, the ever dapper lady, wake up in a bed with twenty flea-carrying cats.

Samandriel seemed to be thinking similarly, because he grimaced and shook his head, "Probably not, no. It's.. different. Probably wouldn't go well with coffee."

Gabriel nodded his head and pushed the ice-cream back into the freezer, "See? That's constructive. Go ask Anna if she knows how to make proper tea. Ask Baldy, too, he should be back in a bit.." Gabriel waved his hand in the general direction of the door, already too invested in his next project to notice if Samandriel said anything in reply, or not.

The day was calm, once again. Usually, he would peek outside into the world of the living in the time it took the sweets to bake or settle down, but this time he was more then happy not to. No matter how much was he telling himself that it wasn't because of yesterday, he wasn't very successful; not when he realized that out of all the sweets he had made, nothing was even resembling of a pie.

At half past four was when he was next shaken out of his brooding, this time by a person much ruder and louder than the polite teenager.

"Hi to you too, Balthazar." Gabriel rolled his eyes when instead of a greeting, all he heard was the sound of something crashing down to the floor. "Pick whatever you assassinated and see yourself out."

"Now, you sound like you're not happy to see me." Balthazar returned cheerfully and crouched down to gather the cookies back into their rightful place. "'sides, with Sammy manning the desk, I thought I'd go and have a chat."

Gabriel turned around at that, for that moment abandoning washing his dishes. "Haven't he left with Anna at the end of her shift?" he asked, curious.

Balthazar shrugged, "Nop. Said he'd rather stay here and make coffee than argue with Naomi. Can't blame him. Back to the more important things – what got you all dark and broody this time?"

"You." Gabriel shot back quickly, turning back to the cooling water in which he was rubbing his dishes clean, "The world. People. Wars. Peace. But mostly you."

"You flatter me." Balthazar leaned casually against the counter, stealing a cherry from one of the cupcakes. "Heard Anna touched something she shouldn't have."

Gabriel kept his dignified silence, only scowling at his now cherry-lacking pastry. He could feel his cousin watching him carefully and made sure to keep his face stoic and unchanged.

Balthazar sighed after almost two minutes of the sound of water splashing, "We've all watched you moon over the guy for _months_, Gabe. Ignoring that he's not even that hot, why don't you just ask him?"

"What for? To have him turn me down, 'cause he's not even into guys?" Gabriel asked bitterly, shaking his head. He rinsed the last bowl under cold water and set it on a towel to leave it to dry. "And he's not. Unless you didn't notice, Anna's a girl."

"I know that." Balthazar rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Into her or not, he was here half an hour and didn't look at her once. You know where he looked?"

"His stupid book?" Gabriel hazarded sarcastically, very well knowing the male's habit by now.

Balthazar shook his head quickly, something like victory shining in his eyes, "Towards your stupid kitchen, you idiot."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, "Could mean two thousand things and none of those pleasant." he snapped and pushed away from the counter, tidying the kitchen almost violently.

"Think about it." Balthazar shrugged, not at all bothered by his irritation. "And you've got a phone in the outer world."

"'Phone'?" Gabriel asked, looking at the door connecting him with the evil outside with distrust. "I've got my phone here." he quickly looked at the shelf where he kept his personal belongings just to make sure and therefore missed the amused look his cousin sent him.

"As in someone wants to talk to you. I'd go, if I were you. It's a guy. Not your type, since he actually smiled, but all in all rather nice to the eye."

Gabriel's blinked at him, still quite not getting what was Balthazar saying, but he rubbed his face and hands clean and allowed the younger male to steer him out of his kitchen.

Leaving his save place was just as scary as he had imagined and Gabriel vowed to get trough the 'someone wants to talk to the cook' scenario as quickly as possible and return, never to leave again.

"Go." he heard Balthazar laugh into his ear and almost stumbled as he was pushed towards the table in the corner, from where he could hear laud chatter. His eyes lit up slightly when he realized that the crowd of seven people, few of them sitting rather rudely with their feet on the table, were actually Odin's group and not some random clique of lunatics.

"Hey! _Loki_!" Gabriel heard and then he was suddenly blind, face squished against someone's chest, hugged tight enough to get winded. He patted the guy's shoulder and chuckled.

"Odin. Hey yourself, you weird-o." he sounded a bit muffled and was running rather low on oxygen, so the large male released him. It wasn't a victory just yet, either, because then he was forced to make the round of honour, hugging all of the guys and pecking Freya, Mokysha and Kalí on their cheeks.

He was offered a chair in between the twins, Freyr and Freya, and found that he didn't quite mind when they both shifted their chairs a bit too close for social norms.

"We were told you were getting depressed over a guy." Freya said with her usual charm and tact, earning himself the attention of her brother and those sitting closest. Rest of the group thankfully followed Mokysha's lead and started anew on a topic of Epica/Eluveitie tour, to spare Gabriel some of the embarrassment.

Kalí leaned closer to the center of their conversation, laying her palms on Freya's shoulder to find balance, "A guy, Loki? How pathetic." she said in amusement, her throaty voice and foreign accent charming him for several seconds. When she smirked and rested her chin on the palms, each breath washing over the skin behind Freya's ear, Gabriel swallowed.

"Now, Kalí, sweetie, I never said I was _gay_." he rolled his eyes, turning to face the girls and running their eyes very slowly over the place where Kalí's chest pressed quite firmly against Freya's side. "Pan. Probably."

Freyr chuckled and Gabriel shifted back on his chair to not be facing only the two girls. "That doesn't seem like being depressed to me." he noted cheerfully and then quickly reached to get his drink, taking a sip as if trying to wash down the fact that yes, he had said that aloud.

Gabriel patted his knee, "Thank _you_!" he exclaimed. "See, Frey? Not depressed. Your brother agrees with me."

Freya rolled her eyes, leaning forward in slight annoyance and almost causing Kalí to fall off her chair with the sudden shift. She pointed her finger at Freyr, whose eyes widened a fraction and was shaking his head in hopes of shutting her up, even before she opened her mouth, "_He_ would agree with anything that comes outta your face, Loki. It's called 'brain-death' or 'being smitten' and unfortunately, he's got a bad case."

Gabriel took in a breath, almost bursting out laughing, but he managed to swallow his mirth when he realized the male next to him was silent, staring down at his shoes, and a rather unflattering mixture of pale and red.

"You know.. If I had a sister like you, Frey, I'd have probably killed myself at the age of five." Gabriel said lightly, still heroically battling his amusement. Well, on the other hand, even that kind of a sibling would be better than his own set of siblings, but he didn't say that aloud.

Just when he was struggling to find something that would, hopefully, ease Freyr's mind, he caught a loud sound of something breaking from the direction of the bar and jumped up, trying to see what it was.

However, the accident was blocked by the bar and his two cousins, standing side by side like norns, equally horrified grimaces on their faces.

"Well folks, thanks for the visit." Gabriel said, genuinely grateful for it, "But I've gotta go and see what happened. See you 'round." he waved, not having time to give a proper goodbye and was off, ready to face whatever catastrophe with a small on his face.

* * *

"_Talk to me, Sammy."_

"I told you, Dean, I'm fine."

"_No you're not. What's up with you? You look like someone whose puppy got kicked."_

"Just shut up. For once in your life."

"_No can do. Tell me."_

"..Just.. I think I shouldn't have said that to the girl.."

"_She didn't seem pissed."_

"No. Not her. Her colleague, though.."

"_The gay-pride guy? V-neck and winking?"_

"Please don't tell me how you know about the winking.. Yeah, that one."

"_What did he do, spill your coffee?"_

"Put sugar in it. And something sour. And I think I was the only person who didn't get a smile."

"_Did you tip him?"_

"Shut up. Yeah, I always do.."

"_Maybe he just doesn't like you."_

"Real helpful. Thank you."

"_Well, either ignore it or apologize. Or find another coffee to go to."_

"It's closest."

"_Well then.. I'll go with you, huh? Just like in first grade."_

"Fuck you, Dean!"

* * *

_A/N, leave a comment, be a dear. I could use someone telling me what do they think; another opinion than my own would be greatly appreciated._

_Smile._


End file.
